Safety Bulletins

Heater Tapes

Safety bulletin outlining the precautions to be taken when installing heater tapes

Safety Alert

From:

Ref No

Date:

Misuse of Heater Tapes

Distribution: Workplace notice boards together with discussion at safety meetings

Recently, in three separate incidents heater tapes fitted to cooler drains overheated. Two of these incidents caused a fire, and the third caused a plastic conduit to melt.

In the first incident, an unregulated "Jimmi Heat" type tape was wrapped around a metal cold store drainpipe. The pipe was then insulated with polystyrene. The insulation subsequently caught fire and as a result a cold store panel was also damaged.

In the second incident an internal heater (Parallel circuit heater tape.) was used inside a plastic drain for a chill cooler. The 30 W/m tape was overlapped in the drain where it overheated and set the plastic drain on fire. The heater did not have an earth braid.

In the third incident a near miss occurred where a 40 W/m tape was routed through plastic electrical conduit from the electrical terminal box on the outside of the store. The tape was found to be melting the conduit. A fire could have resulted. Again, the heater tape selected did not have an earth braid.

Clearly, each of the above cases could have resulted in a much more serious incident (Fire or electrocution). Please ensure that tapes on the plant you visit and maintain are fitted correctly and are the right type.

Self-Limiting Heater Tapes: -

• Produce about 14 W/m and can be cut to any length.• Suitable for wrapping around metal pipes or drains• Must not be fitted inside a drain• Do not have an earth braid

Parallel Circuit Tapes: -

• Produce up to 40 W/m and are made to order in the length you require • Both ends of the tape remain unheated. The length of these cold ends can be selected between 250 and 800mm when ordering• Only use inside a metal drain • Ensure the tape has an earth braid and is connected to earth• Do not overlap• Do not kink• Do not double them back• Ensure adequate length of cold end - to avoid the third incident situation above • Select correct length tape in order to avoid overlaps, kinks, doubling back or curling up